So, you should probably not read this first part anywhere
outrageous laughter is not permitted. Just FYI.
So last night, I went to hang out with Maria after I
finished making photocopies for my upcoming business club. We drank some wine,
talked about life’s problems, put on a movie, and passed out super early like
the old women that we are.
Around 430-ish in the morning, I begin to stir. “Oh thank
god you’re up,” exclaims Maria. She explains that she has been up since two in
the morning. She had gotten up to get some water, and was scared by a shadow
she saw flit across the floor. She herself scurried back to bed, and was unable
to sleep. She texted with her father in Puerto Rico, who was giving her moral
support. She later admitted that she had been undertaking a series of attempts
to wake me up—from bouncing the bed (which as it was already broken, it
actually fell in a bit) to make various noises. I had to remind her that I am a
heavy sleeper, and like I tell everyone, they could probably drive an ambulance
into the room, and I would not wake up. It’s been this way since I was little.
But now I am awake to strategize with her. Unfortunately,
the electricity was out in Kérou, meaning that we couldn’t turn on the lights.
And as you know, everything is much worse in the dark. For me, my biggest fear
regarding rodents is the chance of stepping on them or having them crawl over
my foot. Clearly, being in the dark would only increase the chances of this
happening.
So to give you more of a visual, Maria’s house is basically
two rooms. When you walk in the front door, you are looking directly at the
back door. To your right is her family room, then past that begins a hallway
with a door to your to go into the bedroom. Through the back door is the
private outdoor kitchen and shower So we are sitting on her bed, and hear the
sounds of something bumbling around in her main room. With every crumpling of
paper, of course, this creature got bigger in our minds. “Where is my cat?”
demands Maria. He was lying peacefully on the bed. So I—who have no problems
with disturbing animals, and in fact often make that my life goal—pick him up,
shake him out of his slumber, and toss him through the doorway into the
hallway. He gives himself a little shake, throws us this remorseful look. But
then, suddenly, he too hears the disturbances of a rodent. His body tenses, and
he jogs away. So Maria and I think to ourselves, “Yes! Caye (the cat) to the
rescue!” But then we wait…and wait… There are sounds of movement of a tiny
thing, plus we can hear Caye’s bell on his collar. But no final death moans
from the invading creature. “Come on Caye! Kill it!” we yell.
There is a tiny squeak. Is that it? But both of us are too
scared to go investigate. Then we hear the sounds of movement again… the
invader is not finished.
At this point, a little black shadow runs by the bedroom
door, down the hallway, towards the back door. Caye follows it leisurely. I
only got a short glimpse, and out of direct range of our tiny flashlight. So,
keeping my knees firmly planted on the bed, I lean my body out through the
bedroom door, bracing myself on the wall. I point the flashlight back the
hallway. From behind the half-open screen door, I see a little black nose peak
out. Caye is sitting casually by, just staring at it like an inquisitive child.
The rat starts running back from the door (towards me). I see Caye bat at it
slightly—nothing lethal—before I hurl myself back onto the bed, out of
proximity of the creature. It skittles by, and Caye, again follows it at a jog.
“That thing is huge!” I exclaim. “It must be 5 or 6 inches long.” Then seeing
the horrified look on Maria’s face, I tried to backtrack but it was too late.
“Why isn’t he killing it?” she asks about Caye. “I don’t
even like cats. I got him for one reason and one reason only: to kill rodents
for me. What good is he otherwise? I hate him.”
At this point, Caye, apparently over his curiosity for this
invading rodent, pokes his head back in the bedroom door. Maria and I both
yell, “NO!” at him, and point him back at the door. He shoots us a scared look
and runs off, only to run back in and under the bed moments later.
Anyway, this routine continues for quite some time, with
Maria and I trying to encourage the cat to get the rodent, and him wanting
nothing to do with it. As the first hints of light begin to creep into the
countryside, Maria gathers up every brave ounce in her, and runs to the front
door to open it, hoping at the very least Caye will chase it out, or perhaps it
will leave on its own accord. All that this accomplished however, was that Caye
ran out the door, leaving us to our own devices. “It’s over! Don’t come back!”
yells Maria at the retreating figure. She texts Pierre to see if he still
wanted a cat. She has an available one she informs him.
At this point we’re torn… we can’t wait in the bed, because
we might miss the rodent leaving, without any confirmation. So we kind of hover
in the hallway. Maria then decides to go get one of her neighbors. She brings
back this girl—still in pajamas. We are explaining the rat, and that it’s
definitely in the family room, etc. The girl moves a few items, and sighs. “It
probably left already,” she suggests. But Maria and I assure her the creature
is still in the house. At this point, we are both still standing in the
hallway, and I am closest to the bed. I don’t see the creature dart out from
its hiding place, but Maria does. She screams, and heads to the bed, and me
startled and terrified that the creature might be heading towards us, dive into
the bed with Maria, partially tearing the mosquito net in the process. Most
luckily for us, the neighbor did not actually see us. We start giggling at our
ridiculousness. I venture out again, and see the rodent dart across the floor,
but I miss its destination. The neighbor can’t find it, and clearly wants to go
back her house. She keeps muttering things like, “It’s just a question of
habit” and “You’ll get used to it.” Maria responds that she will never, ever
get used to it, she hates mice, rats etc. At some point, Maria ends up outside,
the rat behind the bookshelves, and the neighbor trying to scare it out. It
runs towards me so I jump on the bed, and it runs into the bedroom. This is
Maria’s breaking point. A rat has invaded her private space, and there is now
nowhere safe in this world. I think at this point the neighbor first begins to
understand that Maria’s distress isn’t just silly, but a real fear/hatred of
rodents. So we both come to comfort Maria. Then the neighbor tells Maria that
she should go to my house. Then at noon, when this neighbor is on break from
school, she and her sister will come and search the whole house until the find
and kill the rodent. Maria agrees to this, but insists on seeing the corpse,
for absolute proof that her worries are over.
We stop at the neighbor’s house where there is the mom and
some other kids. They are laughing at our problems. Most of the discussion
focuses around Caye. They ask where he was. “He was in the house!” we say. “But
he just refused to kill it!”
Neighbors: “Your
cat is so spoiled! He doesn’t think he needs to kill mice because you give him
fish all the time, as well as Batoori cat food [dry cat food]”
Maria: “He is
never getting anything to eat ever again. In fact I don’t even want him any
more. Do you want a cat? I’m going to call my friend to see if he wants one.”
Neighbors: “No,
you must give Caye a second chance! Here’s what we’ll do. We happen to have
mice in our kitchen. We will lock him in there with out food, and within a day
he will start killing mice. It’s just like children. If you want them to do something,
you have to train them! All you’ve done is just spoiled him. It’s no good.”
Me: “I give my
cat dry food and fish, and she still chases lizards and things all the time!”
Neighbors: “Well,
I guess in that case, Caye is just dumb. Yes, he is a dumb, dumb cat. Maybe you
should get rid of him.”
So at this point we leave and trek across Kérou—Maria and I
live at opposite ends—in the chilly morning. I still have time to make myself
some coffee before going to my meeting. As we’re sitting there Luna sees a
lizard that has unwisely climbed into my house and is on the inside part of my
screen door. She immediately sprints, and jumps halfway up the screen door,
catching the lizard in her mouth in one deft movement.
“What the hell?” Maria exclaims. “Why can’t my cat do that?
No hesitation. None at all. I hate my cat.” Then we hear the crunching of the
lizard’s body. So I pick Luna up (she grips the lizard in her mouth) and put
her outside, so she can finish the lizard without me having to see/hear the
graphic details.
“We’re switching cats,” Maria says.
“Absolutely not,” I reply. But then I coo to Luna, who has
finished her lizard and back in the house, “Luna, want to go to Auntie Maria’s
and kill a rat?” Luna just licks her lips.
So I had to leave for a meeting. Maria stays and catches up
on all the sleep she missed last night. I come back bringing a coke, because I
know Maria loves cokes, and always has one every morning. When I pull it out of
my bag, she smiles and says, “I will not E.T. I will not!” (E.T. means Early
Termination [of Service]).
Eventually, she goes back to her house, where she opens the
door for her neighbors and this other kid (Abib) who has been friends with some
former volunteers. Apparently, they search the house for rat, and upon finding
it, Abib grabs an arrow (Maria had bought it along with a traditional bow), and
stabs the creature, killing it. Maria’s neighbor—possibly for revenge for Maria
getting her out of bed so early this morning—shows her the corpse and then
tosses the body towards Maria, who promptly freaks out. She laughs, and then
the incident is over. I’m sure to become a laughing legend among Maria’s
neighbors, far after we’re gone. “Remember those white girls who were so scared
of a little rat?”
The good news for Caye, however, was that Maria’s neighbors
reported that it wasn’t his fault. The type of animal in the house was a black
rat. Apparently, it gives off a smell that the cats don’t like; so that they
won’t want to kill it. At first we weren’t sure if this was true, or just an
attempt to save Caye. But I was recounting the story later to Constant, and he
confirmed that this was true. He called it a “musare” but I can’t find a
translation for that word anywhere. So Maria grudgingly forgave Caye, but still
refused to by him fish on market day.
Amazing Friends, Amazing Adventures
Almost every single day, I am reminded of the absolutely
wonderful people that I call my friends. The majority of them are random people
who were luckily (or unluckily—you’ll have to ask their opinion too) stuck in
some program or other that I did; studying abroad, masters, etc. And yes, there
are some people that I don’t keep up with near as much as I should, but part of
that is because we’re too busy gallivanting the world doing incredible things.
The most recent example is my friend, Ryan Brown, who
studied abroad with me in Senegal. Most unfortunately, she went to Duke,
however, as long as that fact is not mentioned; we get along pretty well (GO
TERPS! …oops). Anyway, she’s
super, super smart, and internationally minded like myself. The year I spent in
grad school, she actually spent in Johannesburg, South Africa after having
earned a Fulbright Research Grant. She grew a research project she had been
doing in undergrad on a journalist, Nat Nakasa, who lived under Apartheid in
South Africa, and after leaving, but unable to return home, ultimately killed
himself at a young age in New York. And now all that research is a published
book! If you want to check it out, it’s called A NATIVE OF NOWHERE: THE LIFE OF
NAT NAKASA will be available on Amazon…soon. February?
Here is a book review, from a South African newspaper:
Additionally, Ryan is one of two girls (the other one,
Allison, also studied with us in Senegal, and who ALSO received a Fulbright, but
one to teach English in Vietnam—see? I have freaking amazing friends) who will
be meeting up with me in Ghana in January, and then we have plans to tour
Ghana/Togo/Benin. So look forward to tales of our upcoming adventures.
So more than that shameless plug for my friends book, I just
wanted to share how blessed I feel. I have friends that are spread out all over
the world, doing various projects, research, work, and incredible traveling and
living. I even admire those who may not be doing something so specific (i.e.
writing a book); but nonetheless fill my life with new and awesome ideas and
stories. Sometimes they help to deflate my ego [i.e. in my masters program,
when I got lower grades than my friends/classmates], though my family will
probably assert this is a good thing! But in general, hearing about and
sometimes sharing in my friends’ experiences simply serves to make my life more
colorful. I mean, I can’t do everything! So it’s perfect to have my friends
visit and/or live in Honduras, Vietnam, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Macedonia,
Guatemala, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Canada, France, Spain, Cameroon, Ethiopia;
bike across the United States; have an awesome career in New York city; work
for the International Refugee Committee…oh my, the list can go on for ages. And
I know I’ve left tons of people out, but don’t worry, I’m thinking about YOU
too. And that’s to say nothing of my family: my mom who has managed to run her
own business, despite her protests that she could never do any such thing and
now wants to be a life coach in order to help other women find their way. My
sister who studied in Paris—PARIS—and is now finishing up school while working
long hours, something which I never, ever had to do. My other sister who went
to Australia and studied abroad in Spain, and now wants to work at a resort in
Colorado, and maybe Hawaii next!
All of these people help inspire me to be a better person.
I’m not saying that I’m not doing great things—I have people write and tell me
that they are in awe of what I’m doing here in Benin—but I just never want to
slack on the awesome. There are definitely some people out there that don’t
want to see others prosper, because they think as life as a zero-sum game,
meaning that if others prosper then they themselves are losing. But I am fully
aware that I can admire qualities and experiences of others without in any way
diminishing my own.
That, however, doesn’t mean I’m satisfied with where I am.
This past week I gave up drinking. “A whole week!” you say, sarcastically. But
for me, at this moment, it’s huge. I’ve been living the past few months in a
pool of alcohol, drowning my boredom away; drinking almost every day. Some days
I wouldn’t feel like drinking, but then I realized there wasn’t really anything
better to do, so…
However, I decided to change this, give up alcohol
COMPLETELY for a little bit (although I didn’t specify a period of time) and to
permanently give up drinking alone (with the exception of a healthy glass of
red wine at dinner). AND I started working out. Last Saturday, I decided to run
to one of my events. However, all that happened was that about one whole minute
into it, I realized that I am terribly out of shape, and I remembered that I
absolutely hate running when I know (or imagine) people are looking at me. And
since I live in a place where people stare at me ALL THE TIME, no matter what
I’m doing…yeah, it didn’t work out. So instead came back home after the event,
and stuck with my home-workout video, “Insanity”. And I did that for six days
in a row. Yesterday was my “break” day. It’s absolutely amazing the better
sleep I get after working out!
I also have picked back up on studying Arabic again. I don’t
really have any specific plans for the language…but it’s a good one to know.
Plus I really like how Arabic works. The grammar is fun. And I’m continuing my
Spanish studies, so I can attempt to get a Fulbright in the Dominican Republic.
Or if not, just live in Puerto Rico or something.
Sunday, 20 October 2013
And don’t worry, I’m doing actual “work” for Benin too. My
work with the Artisans goes on—every week “Ben Club” accounting is off. This
week I managed to find where they had added “80,000” instead of “8,000”, which
is kind of a big deal. But they still had 6,000F missing… why is it always
missing with them? At least when my new Savings and Loans group was off, they
were over. Then the treasurer was like, “Oh yeah, I think I put some of my
personal money with it on accident…” so I gave him an old wallet of mine, to
keep the Association’s money separate. A lot of my work with that, however,
revolves around trying to create the by-laws and a system by which they will
distribute the profits, etc. Usually, such organization work by—after a year or
so—collect on ALL the loans, then giving everyone back their savings, along
with the profits divided up by how much each person “saved” (the savings work
as kind of “shares” of the association as well). However, this means that every
year or year and a half, the organization starts over again at zero, and has to
wait to build back up the money for loans. So my idea is to create a system
where the money would stay in the savings pile. Then every year the PROFITS
ALONE would be distributed. Then, after two years, and in each subsequent year,
each member would have the OPTION to pull out ONE years worth of savings
(knowing that it would diminish the amount of “shares” they have in the
Association). This way, the money doesn’t stack up in perpetuity, but it does
stack up, and always provides a base amount for the loans.
I think the most boring part of my job is going to the
regular artisan meetings. They are definitely necessary; because it’s only
through them that I have any way to disseminate information regarding
activities for artisans. But for the most part, all that happens is that I sit
around for an hour while people talk in Bariba. The Solders mostly have their
shit together. Occasionally, they ask for my advice. And because it’s not what
they want to hear, they promptly disregard it.
The mechanics sit around and talk about how some people don’t
come to their meetings, and the ways in which they will force all the mechanics
to come. I have told them—very bluntly—that of course people don’t come,
because ALL YOU DO is sit around and complain about how people don’t come. No
one wants to waste an hour or more of their week doing that. I certainly don’t!
I only come here because I want to tell you about my literacy class, so please
STOP. I encourage them to make their association more
appealing…so that people will WANT to come. But telling them this accomplishes
nothing, they just tell me literally, “we hear what you said,” and go back to
speaking in Bariba about the apparently soulless people who have decided to
skip these meetings. This morning one of these people was (I think, physically)
dragged to a meeting, and he asserted that he was having personal problems with
another member, and was thus avoiding the meetings. They asked my opinion and I
responded, “well, you’re not required to be friends with every single person
here, but you should maintain a professional relationship with everyone, and
leave your personal problems BEHIND you, and away from the meeting.” There are
lots of nods, then they spent the next 30 minutes discussing the issue he was
having with the other member, and trying to regulate it. I considered so many
various ways of escaping that meeting, notwithstanding intentionally inflicting
physical injury on myself.
I am happy, however, that the Tailor/Seamstresses group has
started up again. They were not holding regular meetings for a while. They are
about half men / half women. It’s interesting, because their meeting
immediately follows the Solders. So all of the solders have these big fancy
motos that disappear at the end of their meeting, and the men and women walk
up; the women mostly with babies strapped to their backs as well. I offered to
get them an accounting book set up, and I will work on this Tuesday with the
Secretary. Then I also invited everyone to join the second Savings and Loans
Association. I had tried to recruit them earlier, but they weren’t holding
their meetings, and the one tailor that I thought I could trust to help me (he
was part of Ben Club, and formerly the president of this association) is
apparently one of the biggest slackers ever. Ugh. But there is another person there
who is also in Ben Club, who is I think the new Treasurer? President? He gave a
speech to all the people there about how awesome Savings & Loans are, so I
hope there will be some people that decide to come.
I also am hoping to restart the literacy classes. During the
rainy season, they kept getting rained out, and people kept complaining about
how they were tired from working in the fields that they couldn’t come, so we
just left it. But now that the rainy season is over, I am hoping to start up
again. Constant, who is the professor helping me, just became a director (kind
of like a principle) of a school (congratulations to him). However, his school
is kind of far away, so he stays overnight sometimes, meaning we will have
fewer nights of classes. However, this is actually better for me, since I also
hate going to these classes (it’s dark, okay, and my headlight for my bike is
crummy). I am trying to work it out so there will be female students as well.
The problem is that women are generally not allowed to leave the house after
dark, (they might be having an affair, oh no! Plus men don’t feed themselves,
and dishes don’t wash themselves, duh). So the 9PM time that is ideal for the
men doesn’t work at all for the women. I originally mentioned this to a small
group of men who regularly attended the classes last year, trying to see if we
could adjust the times. The response was basically: “Wait…you mean…you want us
to actually have class with women? At the same time? In the same classroom?
But…I don’t think that’s allowed. Plus…well…” So instead, I think I’m just
going to have to settle for different times, maybe having women’s classes
Sunday and Wednesday afternoons. I’m not even sure if there will be any of the
grown women seamstresses…their general response was that since they are mostly
all married, their husbands probably wouldn’t approve, and besides, what’s the
point? But they have many apprentices that maybe had to drop out of school who
would be interested in going.
The handball tournament is going along. We had our first
“sensitization” regarding girls in sports: how is it beneficial to girls and
boys? The kids are really hesitant to participate, but Constant, being a
teacher, has ways to help with that. Additionally, I’ve had to rethink the
procedure. I had originally planned on the students “leading” the
presentation/discussion. But I’m just not sure if that’s a thing here. So what
Constant suggested was the week before go around to BOTH teams, have them write
out their thoughts about a subject, then share them at the game. I think this
might work out better.
I don’t know how to feel about the fact that Constant is
doing most of the work. I’m not the charismatic leader at these games; but I
also think that’s kind of the point. While Peace Corps might want me to say,
“Oh, I organized blah blah blah and led a 20 minute discussion…” I think it’s
much better to be kind of a motivational force and organizer, but mostly simply
be there while the community (teachers, students, whoever) does the work. That
way they could do it again when I’m gone. That’s not to say there isn’t any
work on my end. I still organize the schedules, go to the games, help think of
the question for prompts, etc. Plus I wrote the grant. But I’ve always enjoyed
the behind-the-scenes role. So it’s perfect.
I’m also working on starting a business club. When I started
planning it, I might have slightly panicked, realizing that I’ve never actually
taken a business class. I’ve never had the example of someone else’s view on
how business should be taught. I’ve never learned business theory or how to
write a business plan. Oops. Furthermore, I’ve never written a lesson plan, or
have any idea how long certain activities should take. When I worked at Mar-Lu-Ridge,
we had all these essentially “lesson plans” aka games, and had over a week of
training where we practice putting them together, etc. I guess if I had
actually been a teacher in Peace Corps, I would have gotten that sort of
training, but I’m not. Luckily Peace Corps provides us with tons of written resources,
plus there is this really awesome things called the Internet…
I actually met the teacher that is working with me on this when
I was at the bar (see, good things can come of my drinking as well!) He has a Master’s in
Business, plus a few other certificates that I was unfamiliar with. Obviously,
he’s more than qualified to teach this entire business club. So while there are
some things that I might be able to organize and/or talk about confidently, I
mostly want to keep the focus on the kids learning from experience, with
lectures from him, and prompts from me. For the moment, though, even coming up
with a schedule is hard. Should I do marketing or accounting first? Does a
practical exercise fit here? I’m trying to integrate lectures and practical
work with the culminating effort: a Business Plan. Last year, Peace Corps Benin
held a Business Plan competition, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to send my own
students this year.
Friday, 1 November 2013
So I’m currently sleeping in my hammock, as a few nights ago
I was awoken multiple times by earwigs that decided to join me in bed. In my
hammock, there are still bugs, but at least not earwigs. I hate those things.
P.S. Cousin Ryan, can you bring your anti-pest to my house, and do some
extermination? Thanks…
This past week or so has been filled with unfortunate
happenings. However, they all seem to end up more or less okay. I guess it started
when my bike seat fell off my bike, WHILE I was riding it. It’s been loose for
a bit, and I had tried to tighten it. But then the screw that attaches the seat
to the bike snapped in half. I wasn’t even aware that was possible. I had only
just left my house, so after I stood in the middle of the road and
laughed/cried for five minutes, I walked my bike back to my house. I called
someone at the meeting I was going to so that he could come get me on his moto.
I showed him my bike, and he offered to help. So later, I brought my bike to
his shop [he is a Solder]. He suggested soldering the screw back together, but
I told him that was dumb; it wouldn’t hold up. So instead he has the mechanic
across the street from him bring over a bag full of various screws. It was
really insane how many they had; all different sizes. So we sorted through
until we found one that was the proper length and diameter. And Voila! I
reattached my bike seat to my bike, my solder-friend tightened the screw, and
all was good.
…until I was biking to Kongorou, a town that is about 8 km
away. Now this story is partly my own stupidity. I had a tire blow out in town
a few months ago. When I took it to the mechanic, he pointed out that the
actual tire was in terrible condition, and that was causing the innertube to
pop more easily. He remedied this by taking an old innertube and and putting it
in as a protective layer. Apparently, though, he didn’t really attach it; just
laid it in there. I had Peace Corps send me a new bike tire, but figured this
would do in the short run. I brought the tire to Kerou, but had been too lazy
to go through the ordeal of changing it. So as I’m biking TO Kongorou, my tire
is looking slightly flat, and it’s even harder for me to bike than usual. I
have someone put air in it while I’m there. On the bike ride back, there is a
part in the actually comes ripped apart, and the innertube is pushing through
like a black bubble trying to escape. My ride becomes bumpier as this bubble
goes round and round. I begin cursing myself for being so lazy, and praying to
any and every god just to make it. About 100 meters before Hubert’s house [he
lives in a village two or so miles outside of Kerou center] there is this
really loud POP that I think scared the bejeezus out of a passing moto. I sigh,
get off, and walk in the hot midday sun to Hubert’s house. I leave my bike
there, and then continue on to my house. Of course, I needed to meet with a
school director regarding literacy classes; but it looks like this is not going
to happen. When I reach the school, I find that he is not there, but
fortunately he is in a meeting near my house. So I go to my house, grab the
tire, a new inner tube, and my bike-repair supplies. Then with my tire draped
around me like a sash, I go and meet the director briefly [I must have looked
like a crazy person]. Then I trudge on, and finally make it back to Hubert’s
house. He is not there, but a lot of his kids are. They immediately rush over,
grab everything I’m carrying [like good Beninese children] and then set on
helping fix my tire. I had to show them how to remove the wheel from the bike,
but after that, they did pretty much everything, which was really nice of them.
I thank them all profusely, then finally get on my now [hopefully]
fully-functional bike, and head home. When I finally make it, I stand in front
of my fan for a while, then pass out in my hammock to make up for all the sleep
I didn’t get the previous night fighting off earwigs.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of how I spend
so much of my time being absolutely unproductive. [In addition to my culinary
adventures]. There’s always something, and it always takes forever. I spent
about three or more hours related to the two bike fiascos. Sigh. So now, I just
need to remember to take better care of my bike. I am also having Peace Corps
send me a new bike sack. My old one does not fit my bike. And this way, I will
be able to carry a new inner-tube, tools, etc, in case something like this
happens again.
In better news, things are moving a long. Not with any of my
grants, which are still waiting on Peace Corps Washington to get its act
together and roll out the new submission form. But the handball tournament is
going, last week we talked about whether it is okay to start having sexual relations
while still in school. This week we will talk about the same subject, just with
the two other teams. The final of the tournament will fall on World AIDS Day,
so there will be a lot of talk about sexual health and AIDS prevention, etc.
There were three women seamstresses who came to my Savings
and Loans meeting. I am really excited about that. That brings the total number
of women up to five, which is one quarter of the Association. Actually, pretty
impressive. The actual association is struggling now. Apparently, these months
are the “critical period” in Kérou. That means that no one has much money. They
are waiting on the corn to be harvested (December), and then the cotton
(January). At that point, everyone will be rolling in money, subsequently build
all the houses, etc, they want, maybe buy a moto, then come next
October/November/December, starve again. But since people don’t have much
money, they can’t pay the artisans, so there isn’t much work or income. This
means that the artisans don’t want to come to my meetings, because they can’t
pay the weekly savings/fees. I am trying to spread the word that it’s fine if
they can’t pay. For me it’s more important for people to come, talk about the
Association, finish the By-laws, etc. It’s taken us an absurd amount of time!
The literacy classes have started up again, although only
with a few people. This is normal, however. People don’t want to come
initially, incase things don’t work out, and they waste their time. But once
they hear that it’s going, more people will start showing up. I learned a few
things from last year. I think we’re going to start collecting money (just a
tiny bit). This will go towards paying for the measly electricity we use, as
well as giving a little something to the professors involved. I set up a
notebook to take attendance and record payments. I gave this to the artisan
that is the most motivated, and comes to every single class. Constant, the
professor, will help him write people’s names. I hope this leads to a more
organized experience. I also want this to be able to continue without me, so
I’m trying to figure out a system to set up.
Tuesday I went to Constant’s new school. This school has
existed for two years, but this is the first year that the school has
officially recognized it. Apparently here, the individual communities must
provide land, and build a two-room building, etc, before the state will step
in. The school is actually really far out into “la brousse”, or “the bush”. I
had to go through many cornfields, a forest, and a small stream to get there.
It is in the center of a Peul area called, “Tingbaou” This apparently means
“rich earth”; as in the soil is better and produces more/better corn. The
school is really under-equipped, so Constant and I are currently trying to
organize a project to help out. The good news is that they already have a water
pump nearby [actually given by Saudi Arabia], so planting a garden or something
would be easy.
 |
| Constant and his students |
I had a taco night with some local volunteers. It was really
incredible. Maria was coming back from training, so she picked up Cilantro in
Cotonou, then avocados and green peppers in Nati. We made corn tortilla chips,
salsa, and guacamole from scratch. We used the meat grinder and taco seasoning
from home to make the taco beef (or the seasoning and soy “cheese”—basically
tofu—for the vegetarian). We had beans; plus I made “Queso Fresco”, which
impressed everyone. Then Maria also brought tequila and an absurd amount of
limes from Nati as well, so we had fresh margaritas all night. (well, as long as
the tequila lasted). It was really awesome and fun. We are thinking of doing
more get-togethers with different cultural themes. I wish I could say we
included neighbors, but they are always so unimpressed with our concoctions.
Maria once made tacos with Anna and Thomas, and her neighbor just tastes it and
goes, “Oh. Interesting,” and walks away. I guess it’s weird to remember that
even though Beninese food is so odd to us, that’s what people here eat, and
they don’t have access to much else. They aren’t used to being adventurous. So
we hoard our precious food for us Americans who will really appreciate it. It’s
only one night. And we share things out neighbors like more, such as banana and
mango cakes, etc.
Another thing I should mention is that Luna escaped shortly
before I left for Cotonou, so I didn’t get a chance to put her back inside. I
put my neighbors in charge, but they said she would come around and meow at my
door, but as soon as they came over to open it for her, she ran away. When I
came back, Luna and I had this glorious reunion (I was so worried about her).
But now she is absolutely obsessed with going outside. She manages to jump my
six-foot wall in back. She has completely shredded my window screens in her
efforts to get out. I really hate when she goes out. I worry about her, plus I
want to cuddle! The other issue is that Maria—whose cat goes in and out on its
own—can open her back door. No one can see it open, etc. But for me, the door
is taller than my back wall, so if I leave my door open, anyone passing by
behind my house can tell. Also bats. Bats fly into my house whenever I forget
to shut my door. So if she gets out, she’s out for the whole night. I want to
try to keep her in mostly, but also have a way for her to come back in if she does
escape. I’m working on that. In other news, she is most definitely preggars, so
be expecting kitten pics. I’m really excited to have little baby kitties! It
will be adorable!
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
My life has been very hectic lately. I always feel like I’m
running around trying to finish everything. I am finding myself always having
to complete preparations for my activities at the last minute. Not always due
to procrastination, but due to the fact that I was preparing for other
activities, and didn’t have time to get ahead. I’m working on it though, trying
to move ahead.
I had my first Business Club meeting. I definitely need to
make a lot of improvements. I started by giving the students a pre-quiz. My
first questions were things like, “Why are your joining this club? What kind of
projects do you like? Where do you see yourself in five years?” But then I had
some questions to test their knowledge, just to see where they are at. They
really struggled through this, mostly because students here are not taught to
do critical thinking. If they didn’t have me lecture the answer once so they
can regurgitate it, they don’t know what to do. Anyway, it was a dull way to
start, and looking back I wish that I had maybe still asked for the dream
statement stuff. Maybe brainstormed beforehand. Although, afterward I asked the
students to introduce themselves and say why they joined the club. All of them
said, “My name is _________ and I joined this Entrepreneurship Club because I
like enterprise.” Sigh. For the test, though, maybe made the questions multiple
choice or true/false, so they didn’t have to write so much. I also didn’t plan
as much as I should have. I was going over the plan with the professor, and
he’s like, “the pre-quiz and this other thing will take so much time, don’t
plan to do another activity too.” So I didn’t. Then the second activity took
all of five minutes, so I tried to pull some of the class out of thin air… it
was a mess. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. I’ve always wanted to be a
teacher, and I loved being there with the kids. I hope, however, that my
performance didn’t scare them off. I will create a much better plan for next
week.
I finally finished all of the By-Laws for my new Savings and
Loans group. I will go over the document and edit it. Then I can print it out,
get everyone to sign, we can have elections… and the club can really get going.
It’s only taken 6 months… Actually, I’m glad that it’s taken so much time, it
means that we have had time to really hash out their vision for the club.
Today, we talked about sharing of the funds and taking out money, etc. I was
worried about savings building up in perpetuity, but apparently that’s what
they want. Their vision is to save up enough money, and put it in the CLCAM
(the local bank). Then, once they have enough money so that every member can
take out a loan of One Million Francs (that’s about $2,000) they will do that.
Based on what the CLCAM has told me and the group’s current savings rates, I
think this will take them four years. In the mean time, they will use their own
money to take out smaller loans, and at this point they themselves will
actually reap the benefits of the interest paid, etc. I’m really excited for
this group. They mostly seem really motivated (with a few exceptions that I will
actually attempt to expel before we officially sign the By-Laws, etc)
15:30 PM : I get a message from Peace Corps, saying that
they worked out a deal with headquarters that I can turn in my grant with the
old form, as long as a pinkie-swear to fill out the new format once it’s ready.
If that ever actually happens. I’m jumping up and down for joy (seriously, it’s
really hard to type this out). Irrigation, here I come.
For your enjoyment, here is a picture of some of my neighbor kids playing with legos that I bought in Cotonou. They love them! I know they’ve never seen legos before, and I always like the idea of children playing with constructive things, such as legos, which can teach patterns and construction. Also, there’s Luna just lying in the middle. It’s like she wants to get close and get attention. Then one picks her up and carries her around, and she remembers why she should have been trying to stay away.
